Home Affairs Wiped Australian, Aboriginal Flags From the Background of Staff Portraits

Jetski’s fly the Australian and Aboriginal flags during Australia Day celebrations at Circular Quay, in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 26, 2021. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Home Affairs Secretary Stephanie Foster has confirmed both the Australian and Aboriginal flags were recently removed from the headshots of senior staff on the website.

Foster revealed she had not discussed this decision with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, the previous minister, or his staff.

Liberal Senator James Paterson raised the concerns during a Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Estimates Committee on Nov. 4.

“Secretary, I couldn’t help but notice that there was a change recently in the photographs of senior departmental officials on the Home Affairs Website. Are you familiar with that change?” he asked.

In response, Foster confirmed, “Senator, some time ago I asked my staff to redo the photographs of the senior executive without flags in the background.”

“I wanted to have photos that were less formal,” she added.

“Having photos against a background of flags gives a certain formality to the photos, as you know as part of our cultural reform, I’ve been working hard to make sure that the senior executive are very accessible to staff,” the secretary said.

Senator Probes Further

Paterson noted that the Home Affairs Department was responsible for ensuring new citizens understood the importance of national symbols.

“Why is the Department uncomfortable about appearing in photos with the Australian national flag and other flags?”

In response, Foster said, “Not at all uncomfortable Senator, I have explained the rationale between me removing them.”

Under further questioning, the Department was not able to confirm whether the photos were photoshopped and how long staff spent on the task.

Foster referred questions about the specific details to her Deputy Secretary Executive Sophie Sharpe.

While Sharpe was not able to provide technical detail on the removal of the flag, she responded, “presumably, yes” when asked if the photos were digitally altered.

Paterson continued to raise concerns about the priorities of the Department given the issue of visas being granted to Palestinian refugees, and a separate case related to the release of violent offenders into the community.

“In July and August the Department was dealing with some pretty big issues, it continues to deal with some big issues, whether it is the released cohort of non citizen offenders or whether it was Palestinian visas or boats getting through to the mainland,” Paterson said.

“I think it’s an interesting demonstration of priorities that taking a flag off the headshots of a website was a priority ... at a time when the Department was failing to refer Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) cases to the minister.

However, Foster said the removal of photos “occupied very little time” in terms of executive focus.

“I think the folks who assisted with taking flags out of photographs, clearly would not have been able to assist us with AAT referrals. As you note, we have surged a considerable number of resources and we are looking forward to talking to you about our progress,” she said.